Brokers shouldn’t be afraid of coming down hard on lenders to get the service they deserve, says Smartline’s Cathy Anderson.
Brokers shouldn’t be afraid of coming down hard on lenders to get the service they deserve, says Smartline’s Cathy Anderson.
“I talk to lenders the same way I talk to my clients: with honesty,” says Anderson. “I push them to provide good service to me and to brokers as a whole so that I can then pass that on to my clients.”
Anderson’s annual settlement figures run in excess of $110m, and she says brokers have no reason to be at the mercy of lenders.
“I’m not too scared to say something direct to a lender, and that builds respect. They know that you’ve got a good business and you write a lot of volume and they want your business, so they’re prepared to stop and listen. And if a lender’s not then they shouldn’t be in the game.”
Cathy acknowledges that there are a number of banks, including CBA and St George, that go the extra mile to put brokers first and understand how they can improve their service proposition to brokers – but many still have a long way to go.
“I do believe that brokers need to make sure they’re spreading their business, but sometimes that can be hard depending on service propositions. I think we, as mortgage brokers need to keep pushing those lenders to be accountable to us as we’re accountable to them.”
But brokers also need to put action behind their words, to show lenders they are serious about building strong mutual relationships, she says.
“I think it’s really, really important, if you want this industry to grow, to make an effort to be at different functions so that you are standing there representing the industry and pushing the lenders to support brokers and grow the industry as a whole.”
Look out for more thought leadership from some of the nation’s leading female brokers in the next edition of MPA, out July 22.
